On the off chance that more than my mom, sister, and closest friends read this, I'm going to introduce myself a little bit! Hi, my name is Jamie *waves awkwardly* and I'm a mom of two awesome and unique kids who have way to much energy and get up WAY too early ;) I am a Pastry Chef. I graduated with an associates degree in Pastry Arts in 2004. And now.... life is a little weird(er) and I have a bit of a situation.
It all started about 2 years ago. I saw my cousin posting stuff about 21 day fix and losing weight and feeling great. I had some baby weight hanging on for dear life. I had no game plan for exercise other than sometimes walking or busting out an old cardio DVD when the mood or snug jeans struck. I thought I ate pretty healthy, but I was having some doubts. I love me some carbs and sugar (obviously! I mean see occupation!) I went back and forth for a couple of months because I am SUPER CHEAP when it comes to spending money on myself. I finally signed up and I loved it! Sure, I lost some weight, but I was getting MUSCLES! Me? Muscles? Whaaaat?? I had energy and I didn't leave work every night bloated with a brownie scrap food bump! I committed to eating healthier and kinda... umm.... stopped eating my work.
Recently, I decided to take it one step further and become a BeachBody Coach. I love, love it! It's a new way to meet people and connect.( it can be challenging to connect in the restaurant kitchen when you are a 30 something mom ready to go home and go to bed because you gotta teach jr Church in the morning and they are 20 somethings just started their nights!) I love cheering on my friends to feel better and make progress. There was just a little bit of a problem. I was REALLY starting to feel guilty about also being known as every one's favorite sugar supplier. Now before my coworkers panic, being a Pastry Chef at work doesn't really bother me. Judging by the all the times I write "Happy Birthday" or "Happy Anniversary" with chocolate on plates or by all the wedding music I hear blasting from the banquet rooms, the guests are celebrating very special moments and deserve to treat themselves a little, right? My usual cake orders are weddings, first birthdays, or showers. It's the whole being a Pastry Chef at home that really doesn't feel right anymore. Eating healthy is not just about ME maintaining my weight and it's not just a personal choice. It's expanded and it includes my loved ones. I'm constantly learning more about food and fueling my body! It's a lifestyle want my kids to adopt. My daughter does not have my body type but I want her to be strong and have lots of energy and feel great. My son is the headstand champ and I want him to keep going and maybe move on from climbing all over our house to rock climbing. So now what???
I kind of stumbled around for a couple of weeks with a bit of an identity crisis! Could these jobs be anymore more extreme?? I thought about not really trying so hard to be a coach.. Even at the discount level, I'm still saving money. Bravery and change aren't really my jam. I was really trying to talk myself out of it. BUT being weird is my jam and a stubborn part of me wanted to find a way to make this work because how stinkin' weird is that job combo! I still stumbled around without an idea for a while longer and then I bought way too many avocados and a recipe for Fudgy Avocados Brownies popped up in my news feed and I thought why not!?! It was a Beachbody recipe so if the kids hated it, it was fix approved and I could freeze them and eat them all myself or share with a challenger (someone who joins my group and workouts at home with a program, eats healthy, and drinks Shakeology for 21 days fyi) I dressed it up a bit and turned it into a healthy brownie sundae and the kids loved it. That got me thinking! I can do this! I just have to dust off my creativity ( I can make truffles and chocolate cake in my sleep at this point) and use my skills/menu building knowledge and take new recipes and ingredients to make healthier desserts. Time to challenge myself and majorly expand my recipe collection!! I'll probably start out just sharing links to recipes and talking about my family's reactions because I feel like I'm back to my freshman days with a blank notebook and stiff chef coat. I have to start with basic recipes and then make them my own. I'll probably make a lot of mistakes. I might choose things that are not exactly the most healthiest of the healthiest, but I want them tasty enough that my kids will actually eat them! Let's not forget, they are kids of a pastry chef. Now settle down, it's not like I was giving them creme anglaise in their bottles every night, but when they did get dessert, it reached a certain level because I'm pretty good at what I do. Also some of my biggest, most loyal fans are my Church family and I don't want there to be wailing and gnashing of teeth because they were expecting sticky buns and got a dry lump with a dirt like flavor called a "muffin" (finding something healthy to replace my famous sticky buns is like the Holy Grail by the way and I know at least a couple people are panicking right now! But I don't stop until it's perfect!)
I hope that you can find a couple of good dessert and/or baked goods ideas for your family and feel like you can make changes for your family if the crazy pastry chef can! Also, I hope you are at least a little bit entertained because not everyone in my life is gonna be on board this with and I will share their thoughts as they taste test ;) For example, my husband with his boxes of pop tarts hiding in the closet.
Disclaimer: it's probably going to be a of a phasing out process and we won't be perfect so don't pick up your pitch forks if you see us at the local ice cream place or eating chips at a picnic... We're trying for better.
PS I spend my days writing writing recipes and school calendars.. This won't be brilliant and the grammar might be scary! SORRY!
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